hard-heartedness
Refusal of compassion
Hard-heartedness is the quality of being unfeeling, unsympathetic, or cruelly indifferent to the suffering of others.
Someone displaying hard-heartedness refuses to be moved by appeals for mercy or compassion.
His hard-heartedness toward the homeless was disturbing to witness.
The term carries strong moral judgment, suggesting not just emotional distance but a deliberate coldness that most people find blameworthy.
Lacking any compassion
- mercilessShowing no clemency
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
- pitilessLacking any compassion
- savageFierce and untamed
harsh · unsparing · barbarous · draconian · inhuman · inhumane · vindictive · sadistic
Without compassion or emotion
- coldLow temperature state
- frigidExtremely and intensely cold
- icyFrozen or unfriendly
- frostyCold or unwelcoming
glacial · chilly · stony · flinty · stonyhearted · coldhearted · coldness · detached
Without pity or understanding
- uncompassionateWithout sympathy or mercy
- uncharitableHarshly critical, ungracious
- pitilessLacking any compassion
- unmercifulLacking compassion or leniency
unkind · unfeeling · unmoved · untouched · unpitying · hardened · calloused · tough
Absence of feeling
- uncaringLacking emotional concern
- disregardWillful lack of attention
- unconcernAbsence of worry
- neglectFailure to provide care
dismissiveness · nonchalance · insensitivity · thoughtlessness · heedlessness · obliviousness · carelessness · disinterest
Lacking any sentiment
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- stoicUncomplaining endurer of hardship
- dispassionateFree from emotional involvement
- unemotionalLacking outward feeling
phlegmatic · stolid · affectless · blank · wooden · deadened · numb · unresponsive
ruthless
Lacking any compassion
savage · harsh · unsparing · barbarous · draconian · inhuman · inhumane · vindictive · sadistic · tyrannical
unfeeling
Without compassion or emotion
frosty · glacial · chilly · stony · flinty · stonyhearted · coldhearted · coldness · detached · aloof
unsympathetic
Without pity or understanding
- uncompassionateWithout sympathy or mercy
- uncharitableHarshly critical, ungracious
- pitilessLacking any compassion
unmerciful · unkind · unfeeling · unmoved · untouched · unpitying · hardened · calloused · tough · thick-skinned
apathy
Absence of feeling
neglect · dismissiveness · nonchalance · insensitivity · thoughtlessness · heedlessness · obliviousness · carelessness · disinterest · inconsideration
emotionless
Lacking any sentiment
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- stoicUncomplaining endurer of hardship
- dispassionateFree from emotional involvement
unemotional · phlegmatic · stolid · affectless · blank · wooden · deadened · numb · unresponsive · imperturbable
- insensitivitycallousness, cold-heartedness, heartlessness, inconsideration, indifference
- crueltycruelty, brutality, inhumanity, viciousness, ruthlessness
- numbnessnumbness, insensibility, tingling, pins and needles, deadness
hard-heartednesscompassion
Concern for others' distress
soft-heartedness · tender-heartedness · kindheartedness · sympathy · empathy
hard-heartednesskindness
Considerate, caring disposition
benevolence · mercy · mercifulness · charity · generosity
hard-heartednesswarm-heartedness
Quality of genuine caring
tenderness · warmth · gentleness · lovingness · affection